Are we really all that different?
No, this isn't a Gen-X/Millennial vs. Modernism rant today. It's a new thought to my head brought on by an "evangelical" student I teach. Her comment today was that the Old Testament covenant is different from the New Covenant under Jesus, which to her amounted to a God who demanded sacrifices and behaviors under the Old Covenant, versus a God who wants simply to be in relationship with us under the New Covenant.
I'm still working this out in my head, but my oppositional and Lutheran sides are working together and they think that her Jesus is warm and fluffy and has all the substance (and sustenance) of a mini-marshmallow. Ok, that's probably a little bit harsh, but I think there is more to God than the idea that he is like that desperate kid who wants nothing more than to have a friend, but is to much of a pushover to be respected for anything. Ah, the Christian God of high school.
I've always been under the impression that God didn't really change all too much between the covenants, and that it wasn't the works of the Israelites that saved them, but their faith...whoever wrote Hebrews 11 has a whole chapter's worth of something to say about that.
Of course God is still demanding in that he wants his children to bear fruits of the Spirit, but he also is generous and gives us ample opportunity to do so. God wants us to know him, to love him, but he is also God and is not just a friend but a judge, our Lord, our Savior, and worthy of respect, honor, obedience so much more than we would think of as being in our normal everyday relationships.
I think that's why I have so much difficulty with using non-scriptural language to describe a relationship with God: it is a relationship that is based in scripture and sacraments, not in how we feel or in anything that is from us. Our relationship is based in faith which is solely a gift from God...there's nothing we can do about it except going with the gifts we've been given.
And that faith is something Christians and those chosen by God have had since the beginning of time, whether in the Old Testament or under the New Covenant.
I'm still working this out in my head, but my oppositional and Lutheran sides are working together and they think that her Jesus is warm and fluffy and has all the substance (and sustenance) of a mini-marshmallow. Ok, that's probably a little bit harsh, but I think there is more to God than the idea that he is like that desperate kid who wants nothing more than to have a friend, but is to much of a pushover to be respected for anything. Ah, the Christian God of high school.
I've always been under the impression that God didn't really change all too much between the covenants, and that it wasn't the works of the Israelites that saved them, but their faith...whoever wrote Hebrews 11 has a whole chapter's worth of something to say about that.
Of course God is still demanding in that he wants his children to bear fruits of the Spirit, but he also is generous and gives us ample opportunity to do so. God wants us to know him, to love him, but he is also God and is not just a friend but a judge, our Lord, our Savior, and worthy of respect, honor, obedience so much more than we would think of as being in our normal everyday relationships.
I think that's why I have so much difficulty with using non-scriptural language to describe a relationship with God: it is a relationship that is based in scripture and sacraments, not in how we feel or in anything that is from us. Our relationship is based in faith which is solely a gift from God...there's nothing we can do about it except going with the gifts we've been given.
And that faith is something Christians and those chosen by God have had since the beginning of time, whether in the Old Testament or under the New Covenant.
posted by Jed at 7:51 PM
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